Syntax and Its Limits

In this book leading linguists explore the empirical scope of syntactic theory by concentrating on a set of phenomena for which both syntactic and nonsyntactic analyses initially appear plausible. Exploring the nature of such phenomena permits a deeper understanding of the nature of syntax and of neighbouring modules and their interaction. The book contributes to both traditional work in generative syntax and to the recent emphasis placed on questions related to the interfaces. The major topics covered include areas of current intensive research within the Minimalist Program and syntactic theory more generally such as constraints on scope and binding relations information-structural effects on syntactic structure the structure of words and idioms argument- and event-structural alternations and the nature of the relations between syntactic semantic and phonological representations.